US acknowledgement of police brutality against African Americans "first step"

Ivan Šimonović. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

The acknowledgement by the United States authorities of police brutality against African Americans is a "first step" to addressing the problem, according to a senior UN human rights official.

A series of high-profile cases in which people have died at the hands of the police have made headlines in the US over the past year.

The United Nations is currently marking the "International Decade for People of African Descent" which highlights the challenges faced by the 200 million people who live in the Americas and who identify themselves as being African descendants.

Cristina Silveiro caught up with Ivan Šimonović, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, at an exhibition at United Nations headquarters to mark the decade.

She began by asking him why it's important to keep a spotlight on the issue.